Fake 'Down Jacket' made of badminton shuttlecocks...Controversy in China

In China, where a full-fledged cold wave hit, a "fake down jacket" made by recycling badminton shuttlecocks has been controversial.

China's local media Dahe Bao reported on the 17th that it has detected a scene where down jacket companies purchase used shuttlecocks for fillers in large quantities.

These companies were found to use bisa (飛絲), which was made like thread by separating only the feather part from the shuttlecock, as a filler.

Earlier, CCTV sparked controversy late last month when it revealed that an ultra-cheap down jacket product used Bisa as a filler.

Chinese local media went on an in-depth report to find the source of Bisa and found the shuttlecock, which was the secret of the industry.

People in related industries and badminton lovers, such as those in charge of cleaning badminton stadiums across the country, collected used shuttlecocks and sold them to these companies to convert them into cash.An official from a company

said, "The fiber made by grinding the feathers of the shuttlecock is thin and tough," adding, "It has good resilience when used as a padded filler or pillow."

The price of duck and goose feathers has recently increased by more than 1.5 times every year, and shuttlecocks are being recycled.

Another vendor confessed, "Shuttlecock recycling has already been done for many years, and this is rather more of a conscience."

The official said, "I've seen chicken hair or pig hair crushed and used," adding, "It goes through an additional bleaching process."

Fake down jackets are distributed at low prices on e-commerce platforms by disguising them as if they were filled with duck down and goose down fillers.

Experts pointed out that the "shuttle cock jacket," which seems eco-friendly at first glance, differs greatly from the real down jacket in terms of warmth and lightness, and that dust generated during the manufacturing process can cause allergies when attached to fibers.

Care must be taken, especially when buying children's down jackets that are distributed at ultra-low prices online, experts added.

Meanwhile, in China, the price of shuttlecocks jumped more than 20% in July due to a lack of feathers to make shuttlecocks as goose and duck farmers moved to pig farming.